Facebook Launches A Free-To-Play Cloud Gaming Service

Facebook has announced its new cloud gaming service, which will offer free-to-play mobile games. While other online gaming services like Stadia, GeForce NOW, and Xbox are launching premium high-graphics big games, Facebook is sticking to the basic mobile games available as free-to-play.

“Cloud gaming is about expanding the types of games we already offer, so we’ll start with the format people enjoy playing on Facebook: free-to-play games. That’s one of the reasons why we’re starting with games typically played on mobile devices,” said Jason Rubin, VP of Play, Facebook.

More than 380 million people play games each month on the social platform, so Facebook thinks there’s an ample opportunity here. For now, the social giant’s service is not meant to replace your favorite gaming hardware, but that doesn’t mean the company won’t eventually compete in the same market like Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, and Amazon.

Facebook’s cloud gaming service will first launch in the U.S., with broader availability expected in the coming months. The first set of games include Asphalt 9 Legends, Mobile Legends: Adventure, PGA Tour Gold Shootout, Solitaire: Arthur’s Tale, WWE SuperCard, and Dirt Bike Unchained. These cloud-streamed games will co-exist alongside Facebook’s existing catalog of instant games that are built in HTML5. Facebook’s new cloud gaming service is only available on Android and on the web, which means iOS users will miss out again due to Apple’s app store policies.